Last week we wrote about kids who tend to share their passwords with friends. Now it’s time to admit that the apple doesn’t fall very far from the tree. This video proofs that grown-ups can’t keep their passwords secret either:

You’d never fall for that one, right?

abc123 or 696969?

Keeping passwords secret surely seems to be a challenge for kids and grown-ups alike. Another tricky matter is coming up with a safe and memorable password.

SplashData has listed the most popular passwords in 2014. Very interesting read! For instance in 14th place is the password “abc123″ which includes both numbers and alphabets but clearly isn’t the most unique ever.

The top of the list is occupied by exquisite passwords like “123456”, “password” and “12345”.
Bubbling under is for instance the slightly dirty password “696969”. Up and coming are also the macho “mustang” and the superhero inspired “batman”. All these gems belong to the 25 most popular ones.

Can you find your passwords on the list? Make sure they are not there next year!

About the author:

Pia Edman, Momio

Pia Edman worked as a Finnish Community Manager from 2009 to 2015. She has several years of experience in working with online communities and online safety as well as with digital content creation and digital advertising. Pia has a master’s degree in Finnish language.

To emphasize the importance of keeping passwords private, we want to tell you the heartbreaking story of a little girl who had a fight with her brother. The brother knew her password and logged into her account, sold her most beautiful virtual dresses and used the money to buy dozens of generic sandals.

This is a great example of the harm kids can cause to each other. Virtual items may not seem like a big deal to a grown-up, but losing them can be devastating to a kid. Luckily this story had a happy ending and the girl got her dresses back, but that’s not always the case.

Best kept a secret

After years of working with kids we know that the most important quality of a good password is that it’s kept a secret. Too many kids reveal their password to a friend or even to a stranger, and after that their accounts are at risk. Because many kids use the same password on many services, the damage can easily multiply.

Revealing the password to a best friend doesn’t seem like a problem but it is. Kids get into quarrels all the time, and an upset friend can create a lot of trouble. We’ve seen examples of mean messages to other friends, deleted virtual items and even deleted accounts.

Using someone else’s password to log in on their account is of course always wrong, no matter how the password was obtained. Our experience is that there aren’t many actual hacking cases in kids services, but that most account takeovers happen because the kid revealed their password to someone. As simple as that!

We recommend taking the time to explain your kid why it’s important to keep passwords secret. It pays off – and as a bonus, your kid gets to avoid unwanted sandals.

About the author:

Silja Nielsen, Momio

Silja Nielsen is Head of Community and Safety at Momio. She has worked at the company since 2010. Silja has a master’s degree in Media Studies and is interested in privacy, online behaviour and online communities.

This is the answer we sometimes get from parents when asking if their children use social media. What do you think the kids themselves answered?

Quite often parents don’t know that their kids are online or use social media. The explanation is simple: Kids learn about different services from their friends and join even if they don’t even have an internet connection at home.

As a parent you have two options: 1) You can make yourself believe that your kids are not using social media or 2) you can educate them in good time and tell about for instance blocking, reporting and password safety.

As well as kids need to be able to cross a road without grown-ups holding their hand, they also need to be guided to be able to act online.

We have made a checklist in order to give kids a good start in their social media life. With these simple dos and don’ts, there’s no reason why your kid shouldn’t use social media.

Take some minutes and talk to your kid about these. Because your kid will be on social media before you know it, whether you want it or not.

Think twice before you post. Be careful with personal information such as address and phone number. Also be careful with posting pictures of you or your family and friends, and always ask for permission before posting a picture of someone else.

People are not always who they say they are. Be wary of people asking intimate questions and wanting to meet up. Never meet a stranger without talking to your parents about it first.

Be careful in what you say about others online. Making rude or offensive comments about others causes pain and will have consequences to you too. Remember to report if you see bad behaviour.

Watch out for others asking for your password. You should never ever give out your password to anyone. If you do, you risk having your account stolen. You can protect your password by having a strong unique password. Never use the same password that you use on your email account.

What else would you would teach to your kids about online safety? Tell us in the comments!

About the author:

Sara Eichenauer, Momio

Sara Eichenauer worked as a German Community Manager from 2008 to 2015. She worked with online communities in Sweden and Germany for several years. Sara has three kids and is convinced that social media for kids is the best environment to teach our children about online behavior and safety in a fun and monitored way. She has a master’s degree in marketing.